Italian police announced on Wednesday that they have seized 11 million euros (US$ 13 million) in assets and arrested 37 people, including two Italian Carabinieri officers, who were allegedly involved in mafia-type extortion related to fruit, fish and drugs.

Dressed in shorts and acting as tourists, agents kept their eyes peeled on the villa in the village of Thiene, near Vicenza, for a whole week, carefully following the moves of the woman who was taking care of the old lady living there.

“We’ve come here to kill you tonight. Perhaps you don’t get it? At the same time, we’ll also kill your son and your wife".

These chilling words, spoken by a man associated with Italy’s brutal Camorra mafia, were recorded in a car by a hidden police microphone. Antonio Righi -- known as Tonino the Blond -- was threatening a broker to whom he had given more than €200,000 on behalf of the mob.

Italian police say the Sicilian Mafia Cosa Nostra is allegedly collaborating with a Nigerian organized criminal group called the Vikings, which is now controlling drug and prostitution rings in Palermo, media reported Wednesday.

Italian authorities said Monday they arrested 68 suspected members of a ‘Ndrangheta mafia group that stole food from migrants at Italy’s largest reception center, siphoning off over 30 million euros in state funds.

Police in Italy arrested Tuesday the boss of a Sicilian mafia family and five of his aids for extortion and for forcing people — often at gunpoint — to vote in elections for a candidate close to the organization.

Italian military police detained Tuesday 46 suspected members of one of the most powerful groups of the Camorra crime network for mafia association, extortion, drug trafficking and handling of stolen goods, among other crimes.

Minutes after being saved by the crew of the rescue vessel Topaz Responder in late November, Mohamed , an asylum seeker from Cote d’Ivoire collapsed on the deck as he recounted the journey that brought him through Africa, into the Mediterranean, and to the edge of a watery death.

The Carabinieri arrested Thursday 33 people and seized assets worth €40 million (US$ 42.8 million) in a crackdown on one of the most powerful clans within the 'Ndrangheta criminal network, the Italian military police told IRPI.

An Italian gambling magnate known as “the king of slots” was arrested on Tuesday on the Dutch Caribbean half-island of Sint Maarten for his alleged involvement in an offshore tax evasion scheme, Italy’s Financial Guard said.

Police in Italy launched nationwide raids on Tuesday uncovering what they said was involvement of the country’s 'Ndrangheta criminal organization in Milan’s Expo 2015, a massive event held from May to October last year that has been sullied by a number of cases involving infiltration by organized crime groups.

Italian authorities said Wednesday they seized €44 million (US$ 48.95 million) in assets from an alleged senior mafioso who was so obsessed with emulating Al Pacino's role in the classic 1983 gangster film “Scarface” that he had a replica of the throne from the movie built for his villa.